1. Room by Emma Donohue
2. Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
4. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
5. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
6. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
7. A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
8. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
9. The Shack by William Young
10.The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
11. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
12. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
13. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
14. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
15. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
16. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
17. Bossypants by Tina Fey
18. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
19. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
20. Watership Down by Richard Adams
21. The Alchemist by Paul Coelho
Let me start out by admitting that until I read this book I had assumed that alchemy and the philosopher's stone were both concepts created by J.K. Rowling as part of her wizard world. Mind blown.
Okay moving on.
I always wind up reading apparently random books and people always ask me who recommended them/why I decided to read them. Usually I have no idea other than a vague sensation that I "should" read a certain book. For this one, it was this infographic found on Squidoo:
I have no idea whether this data is correct, and in fact it seems somewhat unlikely. However, when a book I've never heard of lands between The Lord of the Rings and The DaVinci Code it seems to deserve my attention.
The Alchemist is the story of a young Spanish shepherd named Santiago. Santiago is happy with his shepherd life until he meets a king in disguise named Melchizedek who tells him to seek his Personal Legend by traveling to the pyramids in Egypt. If he follows the omens, the king tells him, he will find a great treasure.
Santiago's journey is all about listening to omens and learning to speak the Language of the World. Because he is seeking his true path, the world will conspire to help him. Bad things only happen to people who are not in touch with their true purpose.
I guess after reading a certain number of books you start to notice the similarities in things. The Alchemist turned out to have similar themes to both The Shack and The War of Art.
It is more of what I was hoping The Shack would be like. Things aren't just dictated to Santiago in the form of long monologues; he discovers his lessons while on a journey. He keeps an open mind but require proof of things he is told. And more importantly, the message is clear: Every person has a destiny that their whole life should be built around. If you follow the path destiny has chosen for you, you will find happiness.
This message if very similar to that in The War of Art, which says that "Resistance" will conspire to keep you from starting on your destiny's journey, but once you start on that journey the world will conspire to help you.
The Alchemist is full of characters waiting. Santiago works for the owner of a crystal shop for a year before going on to the pyramids. The Shopkeeper is Muslim and talks about how he has always dreamed of going on the Hajj but doesn't think he will ever actually do it. In contrast, Santiago boldly travels to another continent, alone, where he doesn't speak the language, to follow his own treasure. And he is handsomely rewarded in the end.
While the book was a little too self-helpy for me, there was enough of an actual story for it to be enjoyable. And it had a solid message that I can get behind. Quit dreaming and make it happen. It will be worth it in the end.
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